Man Utd trained on Wednesday as Michael Carrick stepped up preparations for the Premier League fixture with Tottenham this weekend.
Michael Carrick takes a hands-on role in Manchester United training
Manchester United trained at Carrington on Wednesday as they stepped up preparations for Saturday’s Premier League fixture against Tottenham, when Michael Carrick will try and make it four wins in a row to start his tenure. Carrick has overseen wins against Manchester City, Arsenal and Fulham to move United into fourth and the visit of Thomas Frank’s Spurs represents a chance to solidify their top-four status.
There was no sign of Matthijs de Ligt or Mason Mount during the session, while Patrick Dorgu remains a long-term absentee. JJ Gabriel, 15, was one of five academy players involved, along with Yuel Helafu, Jack and Tyler Fletcher and Jack Moorhouse.
This is what we spotted from the part of the session that was broadcast by United’s official channels.
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Carrick’s central role
Anyone who spent time watching any part of Ruben Amorim’s sessions can’t fail to notice the difference between the Portuguese head coach and Carrick. Amorim would often observe parts of training from a distance, usually letting his coaching staff set up drills, and only getting involved to add weight to a message.
Carrick is a modern, hands-on coach, and although he is in charge, he is also leading much of the training. After a warm-up, he set up a reasonably complicated passing drill and spent time getting it right before explaining it to the players himself.
The 44-year-old led the group huddle before it began, then walked through the plan for the drill himself, explaining each part in detail to players and using some of them to show where they should be passing the ball and where they should be moving.
It is clear that Carrick is very much a training-ground coach.
Passing plan is clear
The passing drill saw players exchanging short, sharp passes before moving on to the next station and carrying the ball down the pitch. It all looked pretty slick.
MUTV pundit Danny Simpson noted that much of what he saw on the grass at Carrington this morning was similar to what he had seen in the three games so far, which is evidence that the message is getting through.
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Simpson revealed that after the cameras had gone off, there was an attack vs defence drill, with the group split into three teams and the fast-paced match played between the 18-yard boxes at either end of the pitch. It was another focus on keeping the ball under pressure, and we have seen United do just that under Carrick so far.
Carrick’s pleased
Simpson had spoken to former teammates Carrick and Jonny Evans before training began and revealed that the head coach had praised the players’ togetherness and work rate over the last three weeks.
As an example of the former, he highlighted Joshua Zirkzee’s reaction to Benjamin Sesko’s injury-time winner against Fulham, even though the Slovenian’s goal will likely make it harder for Zirkzee to get a game.
Evans and Casemiro chat
All of Carrick’s coaching staff were out on the grass and involved with the players, and it was interesting to see Evans having a one-on-one chat with Casemiro at one point.
Evans is the member of staff with the most recent playing experience, and he only hung up his boots last summer, so not only can he relate to the squad, but he has played with and knows most of them as well.
Moorhouse’s role
JJ Gabriel’s inclusion in first-team training for the second day in a row was the headline news for the academy, along with a call-up for 17-year-old Yuel Helafu, but it was interesting to see Jack Moorhouse involved.
The 20-year-old only returned to the club from Leyton Orient late on deadline day, with concerns raised about his game time in the second half of the season as the League One club head for a relegation battle.
Moorhouse gained valuable experience in playing 24 games for Leyton Orient and with numbers a little short in midfield at United, he could jump the queue ahead of Jack Fletcher for first-team involvement between now and the end of the season.
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